carusoam

If you are taking it apart anyway. Get a good look at the connection to the throttle. Looking for wear. Throttle cables are known to let go (in all types of planes), the power on our mooneys will fail to idle..... Consider a change to new while you are doing it. You will probably get the blue red black combination of standard controls..... Or just leave it alone and call it a classic mooney.....somebody before you did it for 40+ years...... -a-

From our friends at GAMI who are working on a new fuel..... Anthony, We have an unleaded 100 motor octane fuel. G100UL. We are actively waging certification with the FAA right now. Thanks, John-Paul John-Paul Townsend - Sales/Support Manager General Aviation Modifications, Inc. john-paul@gami.com toll-free: 888-359-4264 ph: 580-436-4833 x1005 fx: 580-436-6622 www.gami.com

While you are thinking about the engine and it's octane rating and whether or not lead is needed... Other things for your consideration... The tank sealant, and all of the seals and floats from the tank, through the pumps then into the fuel injection or carburetor systems. Then think at what altitude you fly at. Avgas does not evaporate with the same pressure that moGas does. Overall, You will want your new gas to not dissolve away your sealant or swell your seals, and at the same time you don't want it to vaporize in the fuel system before it's supposed to. And of course, you don't want it to detonate and damage your pistons. Mogas in NJ this week $2.60 Avgas $4.00. There is definitely some room for invention. Any fuel engineers on the board? I know there are couple of us in the fuel and oil industry..... Check out what the good people at GAMI are working on for 100LL fuel replacement and electronics that work with MoGAs http://www.gami.com/prism/prism.php. Best regards, -a-

Russ, If you go to Thunder bay, don't you expect some lightning to go with it? Please post a picture of a wooly bugger... -a-

Welcome to MooneySpace... Look around, enjoy and as the thread says...Introduce yourself. I saw URS W give an introduction on one of the other threads, so refloating this one seemed like a good idea to me.... This thread was started in 2008 by Adam V. Best regards, -a-

Stuff to consider.... [1] An average M20C flies at 150mph. - pretty quick... [2] At 2,000 hours, that engine has dragged the plane 300,000 miles. - pretty far... How far do we expect it to go......? What will fail first....? (crank, cam, seals, block, etc.) What accessories can we do without? (fuel pump, carburetor, govenor, magnetos, cylinder assemblies, etc.) Can we start a meaningful oil analysis program now? There are many things that can get old and worn.... If you replace all the questionable items, one item at a time, you probably have replaced all of the items required for an overhaul. I might be with RJB on this one ... The core is usually a valuable commodity for a rebuild. (slightly more positive than "worthless") -a-

721lp, Do you still have the small filler pieces that cross behind the blades? Are they whole? It seems prop hubs and blades are still an area of trial and error, on top of a great deal of science and engineering...

In the first drawing you have posted above... I am intrigued by the inset drawing indicating Spacer "A". If it is the proper drawing, it indicates a stack of hardware: Screw head, Spinner, SPACER "A", wave washer "B", washer "C", bulkhead, washer "D", nut "E". The second drawing you have posted is the original, short "bullet" shaped, spinner that does not have the internal support that fits snugly around the front of the hub. (This cannot possibly be for your new spinner, it does not match). I think Hartzell owes you the information on exactly what hardware is involved. There should be part numbers and the number of each set of hardware required. I would think that spacers are only required in two or possibly four places for the reasons stated above, not in all places. Again this should not be a guess. I don't think that spacers are standard practice either. Meaning, a trained A&P is not going to see this as an obvious and proper way to mount the spinner. (at least not without the instructions from the manufacturer). Too much risk of new cracks to try something without having the proper knowledge from the manufacturer. Best regards, -a-

Sounds like the alternator is going off line, as if... When starting an engine with a dead battery, the alternator won't come on line... No voltage to the field, no magnetic field generation, no voltage generation... Consider taking a look at or replacing the wires between the regulator and alternator. The M20R has a switch for "alternator field". When this circuit is not connected there will be no generation. I would be focusing on that wire/switch/breaker combination that interupts voltage to the alternator field. You seem to have replaced everything but the wire in between.... (Are you able to check voltage on this wire DURING your next flight?) Best regards, -a-

Stefan, For your consideration..... From the original installed photos... Firstly, Follow whatever the manual says. Let me know if the following makes sense... [1] It looks like there is no spacer under the screw where the crack is. It looks like that screw is holding the spinner dome against the backing plate (somewhate against it's will), the curled edge where the blade comes through is trying to stay off the backing plate. [2] When you mount the new one, The curled edge will be in the same place. The screw will pull the spinner dome metal toward the backing plate. The tighter the screw, the more bend in the metal. This bend will stress the metal at the screw hole. Stresses lead to cracks. Two things come to mind, the curl on the blade hole adds strength to the un-screwed blade hole, so it can't be removed. A spacer will allow for tightening without bending under this adjacent screw. Since the crack on the old spinner occurs in the exact same place, twice. You got two experiments for the price of one. Without the spacer you got cracks. New dome is identical to old dome. I would be thinking the proper spacer in the proper location will keep the dome from bending when tightening. No bending will lead to no cracking. Keep in mind the method used to manufacture the spinner dome leaves the aluminum in a relatively thin and brittle state. Minimizing the stress put on it during installation will keep a crack from initiating. On the old spinners, there were two filler pieces that fit in that area. The dome wouldn't crack, but the filler pieces would. There are many stop drilled spacers on old spinners. Overall: Forces from spinning are tremendous. Avoid any additional stress applied to the metal when tightening it in place. Best regards, -a-

There is only the one vent under the wing. There is no cross-over between tanks. The vent can get clogged by small insects or anything else that can get up inside. A small wire or nylon line should be able to be sent up into the vent to clear it out. Since the cap is not vented, and the vent seems to be clogged, the affected tank is in danger of not being able to feed fuel properly. The vacuum will actually try to collapse the wing skin. It is good to see that your tank does not leak.... Best regards, -a-

I think "green" in green house refers to what is growing inside. In NJ, they use uncolored glass or plastic for green houses. The tinted window is pretty good at reducing the sun's energy entering the cabin, no matter what color tint you select. I think green colored sunglasses were probably popular in the 60's. Shades of gray seem to be more popular today. Fortunately, you can change the side windows yourself. It is not too expensive to experiment. I tried clear for one, and then went back to green..... Now, all gray..... -a-

http://www.mooney.de/info/checklisten/inspect.doc Front page of the service manual as posted by our brothers in Germany.... Gives serial numbers and year of manufacture for years 1964 to 1967. -a-

Parts catalog indicates that the servo is in front of the aileron, nearest the inboard edge of the aileron. I would suspect that it acts upon the aileron belcrank attached to the control rod that the normal aileron control comes from. 1966 parts catalog, is short on words and the drawing is relative...... Hope this gets you started in the right direction.... Best regards, -a-

From the 1967 Mooney Parts Manual.... (revised June 1973) Executive 21 1967 - M20F 660003 and 660004 670001 & on Written just like above. Indicating to me that two were built in 66 as model 67 - M20F. There is the following note: Note: This revised catalog supercedes the 1965-1966 Mooney M20 Series parts catalog. A six-digit serial number code is used for all 1967 and subsequent M20 Series models. Consequently, all four-digit (1965-1966) serial number references with "& ON" designations in this catolg should be understood to include all subsequent four-digit and six-digit serial numbers for the model(s) specified. Serial numbers 660001 and 660002 are non-existant according to this Mooney document. Your mooney was purposely given a "new for 1967" style, six digit serial number, that begins with a 66. Best regards, -a-

Something to look for while performing the pre-purchase inspection regarding landing gear pre-tension. Somewhere in the history of the plane there was an AD to change the main landing gear donuts. Make sure the AD was complied with in full. The donuts are the outwardly visible change. The support structure they are mounted on should be changed at the same time. If the structural pieces were not changed, the ability to adjust pre-load may be effected. An MSC will notice this immediately. Someone else may not. If the hardware is in proper working order, adjusting the pre-load is something the A&P can take care of. There are plenty of threads related to donuts on this forum.... As stated above, you want the preload to be proper to minimize collapse. Side loads increase with speed while turning on the ground. Could be hazardous if pre-tension is not properly set. Best regards, -a-

The goal was, two people, 600nm in 3.0 hours.... neither the J or the R really meets the time requirement, the R is slightly closer..... On a less limited budget, I would get the Acclaim to get there fast, an M20J to get there most efficiently, an M20R to bring "efficiency minded" friends along comfortably, and an M18 for days you just want to go it alone. This would be my version of the Al Mooney Collection. As far as partial fuel loads. Modern systems are difficult to mess up. Two tanks with fuel quantity sensors in them. Two visual gauges on the wing top. Fuel totalizer while flying, integration into GPS - fuel required to waypoint, with alarms and lights. You still have the option to look into the tank (which I do on every flight). Any faster, you would need to consider a turbine........TBM anyone? -a-

Roughly speaking..... Ovation 1: Assume... 16gph in level flight at 170 knots (11,500 feet) 89 gallons usable. 5 hours of flight if needed... 600 nm trip = 3.5hrs (60 gallons) 360 lbs of fuel 1050 useful (from Parker, noted above). Leaving 690# usable for people and stuff. Consider Ovations M20R and Eagles M20S may give similar results. For two people, there is alot of extra capacity for additional fuel, or bringing alot of stuff...... Of course, this is rough, quick, back of the hand calculation intended to help illustrate a possible solution. Please check the math yourself. Don't forget to add your reserves and actual fuel flow for climb, etc.... I think rockets and TLS/Bravos would do this run a bit quicker at higher altitudes, bring your oxygen... Best regards, -a-

I thought mine were clear too..... I think projecting light onto a white piece of paper may be helpful. If you can look at the edge of the window it becomes more obvious, the crack may give similar indication. Let's just say I got really good at replacing the same window.

Clear can be incredibly hot. It gives great visibility, but you will want to block the sun on the summer days... Gray is the more modern way, if you are replacing all of your side windows. Otherwise, if you are only replacing one, you may consider keeping the color to match what the other windows are already. -a-

They have three colors. gray, clear and coke bottle green... My 65 C had coke bottle green from the original windows. It took me a while to figure it out. (I actually sent a sample to LP) 40+ years of being outside, inside, covered and not covered, made it difficult to be sure of what color it was. Save yourself some hassle, just make sure you order the correct color.

I think it would be fair to us a drop of silicone to fill in the stop drilled hole. Without stop drilling, I think you are only a bump away from propagation. As in, if somebody bumps into the plexiglas, the crack will probably run. I don't think this is a pretty way to fix things. A side window doesn't cost that much. They take a few days to have made. You may consider purchasing one, just to be ready. Installing one is not extremely technical. Most of the work is probably removing old sealant. The challenging part of installing the new one is drilling all the screw holes in the right place. -a-

I would expect a stop drilling would be a good idea. Using a proper drill bit for plexi-glas of course. Your mechanic can probably do this quickly and at low cost. Caution: Cracks in plexiglas are very easy to propagate. Best regards, -anthony-

I'm with Parker on this one. I found B of A through AOPA. They have a few people that are very familiar with aircraft. The loans they offer are for 20 years, similar rate to what Jetmech quoted. If you are fortunate, you can pay it off early. I used them because of their experience, title search and overall responsibility. The process was all smooth soaring, no mistakes. Let me know if you can't find them and you need a contact. Best regards, - Anthony -

The only things I can think of that get in the way of retraction are: [1] Airspeed switch - should not trip circuit breaker, Push the overide button and gear would go up [2] Emergency extension out of position - as mentioned above (highly likely) [3] Something physically stuck in the system - check gear doors, control arms for anything that looks out of place or bent. [4] Gear motor. The emergency handle being out of place should give trouble in both directions. Both going up and going down. Good luck... -a-